Ideas to Alleviate Shortage of Bus Drivers for Activities

In schools across the country, there are not enough coaches, teachers, paraprofessionals, officials, bus drivers – and the list goes on. Every neighboring district is looking for people to fill these positions and more.

Nothing is more frustrating when a schedule is planned that works for both schools than a bus not being available due to a shortage of drivers. For inner city schools, students can usually find their own way to the competition. In outstate, however, the game has to be rescheduled. Although the activities director is not involved in who gets paid, he or she is able to entice people in other ways to come to your district.

So, how do schools encourage people to apply for bus driving positions – and get them to stay? Many ideas may work for open positions within the school, but when it comes to bus drivers, this is an opportunity for the administration to think outside the box. For all practical purposes, the goal is to not have the bus driver shortage affect after-school activities for student participants. Being a driver for after-school activities is different from driving the daily route for academic classes, so consideration should be given for promoting the two positions separately.

Schools should advertise for the individual sport or activity, and perhaps the bus driver could be the 12th member of the football team. Maybe the driver for the debate team could be guaranteed to have no arguing from the students. When it comes to advertising for middle schools, perhaps the following notice would work: “Middle School Girls Basketball Bus Driver Needed, It All Starts Here with the Bus Driver.”

The campaign could be lighthearted in terms of getting the message out to potential drivers; however, a long-term plan should be developed to keep them employed and keep them in your district.

Another strategy is to have the same driver for a team throughout the entire season. The activities director can work with boosters, parents and coaches to include the driver in team aspects – and make him or her feel important. Simply a thank you after each night, staying back to pick up garbage on the bus, or providing team snacks, including some for the driver, will show appreciation. And when it comes time for the playoffs, the driver will feel invested and will want to be a part of the excitement. As an example, one team made playoff signs to tape to the ceiling of the bus for travel to games.

Another idea is to have the lower-level coaches get their bus licenses. Even the varsity coach could obtain a license; however, sometimes pre-game processing needs to happen, and driving may not be ideal. Whether the assistant coach gets paid extra or just for mileage driven is a decision for the respective district, but this arrangement allows for coaches to truly be in charge of all aspects of the departure and arrival times.

Another solution is to encourage a parent of a younger player to get their bus license. This will allow the parent to see his or her kid play at away games, but also be paid and be a part of the solution to the driver shortage. Coaches may not like this idea, however, when there is a shortage of drivers, this is usually not an issue. This also could be a solution for the next four-plus years, especially if the parent has younger children coming up through the program.

If your district does not own the buses and you depend on the bus company, this may cause more challenges. It might be possible for the activities director and owner of the bus company to collaborate on ideas. If your team has a random bus company driver each game, befriend one of the drivers. Ask the person to be the team’s driver, and determine the best way to make that happen. If a driver feels wanted and appreciated, that individual could speak to the owner of the company and drive the bus on the same day each week for your team.

Once you have a driver, you need to make sure the person stays around for the year. Provide a special hat or jacket to be worn as the team driver. Assign one of the coaches to get a debrief on the game on the way home from the bus driver. Even if it is not useful information, asking for the driver’s insight will make the person feel a part of the team.

Get to know the driver – ask about the family and his or her life. As always, be purposeful in conversation and inclusion. Of course, the coaches need to be mindful of sharing too much, but general conversation is great. Although the driver cannot eat while driving, providing the driver the same treats the team is enjoying can be huge. Make the bus driver’s time investment worthwhile.

Furthermore, create school signs for each team to put in the window of the bus. The sign could say “Wildcat Express” driven by Mr. Johnson. This will give the driver a sense of pride. If the driver is also a daily route driver, this “ramps” up the importance of each trip to competition. Maybe in your team’s program, when you list the coaches, managers and band director, you could list the bus driver. That gesture would be impactful.

It is important through all of this process that the expectation of coaches and students is clear, and that is that the utmost respect and courtesy should be given to the bus driver. A nice smile and thank you go a long way for someone wanting to come to work. It has to be a group effort in promoting and keeping drivers for after-school activity programs. If a coach has ever been stranded without a bus, he or she will jump on this campaign. This could alleviate so much angst when scheduling and transporting teams for competitions.